Wednesday, 11 February 2015

Help for Victims after a Suicide



After the suicide of my 18 year old in 2014 I was left in a totally numb state of mind. Even though I appeared pretty together in the initial period, after a couple of months I decided to access counselling. However I found it difficult to find a specialist in counselling for bereavement much less something suitable for someone whose child had suicided.

Eventually after much net trawling and talking to people I found some excellent choices for me. Perhaps they may help you as well.

I found a wonderful counsellor at Relationships Australia in Brisbane (Spring Hill). It runs a service to assist the victims of trauma : Victims Counselling and Support Services (VCSS). It is funded through the Department of Justice and Attorney General to provide information, referral support and counselling to victims of crime and their families living in Queensland. http://www.raq.org.au/services/counselling/victims-counselling-and-suppo...
Phone: 1300 139 703.  

There are also a couple of meetup groups in Brisbane and some throughout the state that support victims of suicide through holding regular meetings.  http://www.supportaftersuicide.org.au/find-related-organisations#services-qld.
 
Survivors of Suicide Bereavement Support Association  (SOSBSA) is another great help and also runs a regular small group. http://www.sosbsa.org.au/

Lifeline (provided by UnitingCare Community) have established the ‘South East Queensland Crisis Support and Counselling’. This organisation also runs a regular group in Brisbane central which is facilitated a trained psychologist and which I have found very helpful.The contact is Lyndall Stafford who is a Psychologist and senior practitioner in the South East Queensland Crisis Support and Counselling. Phone 07 3624 2400 or email lyndall.stafford@uccommunity.org.au    The website is  www.uccommunity.org.au/lifeline



There are other groups out there such as Beyond Blue etc and a good list with many options is given at The Compassionate Friends website (which sadly doesn’t have an office in QLD) http://www.compassionatefriendsqld.org.au/links.html.
I’ll add to this list as I find new and useful resources. Please feel free to add your own resources.







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